Worst campaign setting concepts you've ever played

[Desdichado]

Wow. Did we all go through those phases?

Quite likely!

 

[diaglo]

Or the one where my DM forced me to play a kleptomaniacal halfling-by-another-name, where there were no clerics and no such thing as free will. Every time we tried to go off adventuring in a direction he didn't like, we'd run into the "wandering army of dragon-men."

that is the 1ed DL modules exactly. railroad you to follow TH and MW books no matter what.

 

[mmadsen]

Dragonlance

that is the 1ed DL modules exactly. railroad you to follow TH and MW books no matter what.

You forgot to cast detect sarcasm, diaglo.

 

[emergent]

Oh yeah, there was also the time one of my players unhorsed Sir Lancelot in a joust.

The player's character was a halfling.

 

[BenBrown]

Wow. Did we all go through those phases?

Some of them.

I never went through the godslayer phase. Not sure why. Possibly parental involvement in the games.

 

[diaglo]

Re: Dragonlance

You forgot to cast detect sarcasm, diaglo.

Olgar doesn't do sarcasm.

it's that military training.

 

[the Jester]

Speaking of Dragonlance... well, Dragonlance.

I've heard a lot of people swear to how cool a good DL campaign could be, but I've never been near one that wasn't a railroad-fest that revolved around the characters and events from the books.

"But if we have no CHOICES and aren't IMPORTANT and ALREADY KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.... why are we playing???"

 

[DreamChaser]

My worst...in middle school my friend was running the game (I think he is the reason I avoid letting others DM). He came up with this wonderfully detailed empire called Thascanaria. Within it was a city so large that it made New York city look like a hamlet. All this with pre-renaissance technology. This vast city was mapped in great detail...but only he got to see the map and the lovely citizens of this magnificent capital had opted not to put up street signs or maps or allow guides or anything useful like that.

I once spent six (real) hours trying to get from a park to the inn where my fellow adventurer was staying.

But this is not even the worst.

This guy during the game had my old Monsterous Compendium, complete with universal encounter charts, which he used without concern for such trivial things as encounter level, relevance, plot, etc. On top of this there was really only one major plot for the entire world, a ancient lich madman who was trying to take over the world with the aid of his various minions, all of whom were more powerful than your average 20th level character (this in 2e mind you). We would meet them from time to time (or some dragon from the encounter chart) and procede to die painfully.

It got to the point where we would make books of characters so that we could just grab another to replace the oft killed ones. In the 3 months that allowed him to continue this travesty, I ended up playing 20 or 25 different characters. My older brother joined us 2 or 3 times and managed to go through 5 characters. My buddy who was also in the game went through nearly as many characters as I did (the DM liked him better).

Eventually I asked the DM what the point of the game was and what he hoped to accomplish by killing us ever session. He got mad and refused to run the game anymore.

Damn, I'm glad I never have to be in middle school again.

DC

 

[diaglo]

the one bad concept everyone is forgetting.

a demiplane created to suck a truly evil power away from the mortal planes.

the demiplane now has some form of undead as its ruler.

usually a lich or vampire with class lvls.

a mist surrounds adventurers too and drags them to this plane.

never to return usually. and if they do kill the BBEG. they become the new ruler. however, it also means they become evil.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Speaking of Dragonlance... well, Dragonlance.

I've heard a lot of people swear to how cool a good DL campaign could be, but I've never been near one that wasn't a railroad-fest that revolved around the characters and events from the books.

"But if we have no CHOICES and aren't IMPORTANT and ALREADY KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.... why are we playing???"

Exactly why I bailed from the campaign I was referring to, which was a thinly disguised description of the original Dragonlance campaign -- I was playing Tasselhoff, bailed at about DL3, and went back to playing in Greyhawk. I discovered it was easier and faster to figure out what the DM was doing by reading the books than actually playing -- since everything was bloody identical!

I hate railroads.